The remains of Temple of Castor and Pollux (Dioscuri), Agrigento

Jon brilliantly scored a paid conference trip to Sicily in July, so of course Little One and I had to tag along on the ride. Sicily is truly the “land down under” Italy, with its grand history of once being Greek, then Norman, then Italian. We visited Greek ruins, Norman palaces and churches, Italian gelato and pastas. Our first stay was to Selinunte di Marinella, along the Mediterranean coastline, where we had views of the Selinunte archaelogical park. We drove our rental car to Agrigento, another UNESCO world heritage site of Greek ruins, and to the small town of Erice on the mountaintop, and visited Selinunte archaelogical park, before spending the rest of our week and Jon’s conference in the city of Palermo. Thanks to strep and a resulting tonsillar abscess, I got to experience a little of Sicily’s emergency room healthcare, all in Italian. Here are the photos I did get when I was not being treated for an enlarged tonsil.

“Temple S” at Selinunte, overlooking the Mediterranean

“Valley of the Temples” – Agrigento

Temple of Hera at Selinunte

Temple Concordia, Agrigento

Sicilian flower blooming at Agrigento

Jon and little one playing in the waves of the Mediterranean, Marinella di Selinunte

Outside a ceramics shop in Erice

Near the Castle of Venus in Erice

The Duomo in Palermo